The Dow dropped a total of 1175.21 points today in heavy trading. This is the biggest single day drop IN HISTORY. Trump was trumpeting the fact that the market was setting all kinds of records and took plenty of credit for this when it had little to do with his actions, or with those of any other human. The economy has a mind of its own.

The Business Cycle

The Business Cycle goes through periods of expansion/inflation, recession, troughs and peaks. The Federal Reserve regulates open market operations by which government bonds are bought or sold in order to respectively increase or decrease the money supply. In other words, when the Federal Reserve decides to buy bonds from individual consumers, businesses and corporate entities, it is attempting to put money in people’s’ pockets to help combat a real or anticipated recession.

Alternately, during periods of inflation, in order to curb the money supply, the Reserve, the equivalent of our Bank of Canada, will sell bonds, thus taking money out of peoples’ pockets. In this situation, people exchange money for government bonds.

The Reserve and the BOC (Bank of Canada) also use interest rates to control the money supply. During periods of expansion during the Business Cycle, the Bank Rate will be raised while during periods of economic contraction, the Bank Rate (BR) will be lowered, making it more attractive to borrow and spend money, thus assisting in economic expansion.

A third way the Reserve and the BOC operate to control the money supply is through a policy of moral suasion.

The government itself, through its spending and taxation policies also operates as an economic regulator. Increased taxation coupled with decreased government spending would be the methodology used to combat inflation and decreased taxation coupled with increased spending would be introduced to fight recession.

Even with all this, the ups and downs of the Business Cycle march on. All the government and the Reserve/ BOC can accomplish is to attempt to ensure that the ups and downs are less severe than they would be in the absence of government intervention in the economy.

Trump is an idiot to take credit for a good economy or, by the same token, to take the blame for what has happened to the Stock Market in the last three or four sessions. But the moron obviously doesn’t see it that way which means he can be blamed for the LARGEST POINT DROP for the Dow in HISTORY, if he has taken credit for the Market’s positive performance since the 2016 presidential election, which he definitely has.

Just to repeat, the economy moves in cycles. Intervention can be used to even out the ups and downs. However, they cannot be eliminated. Eat shit, Moron-In-Chief.

Inflation is an economic situation where too much money is chasing too few goods which drives prices up due to the laws of supply and demand. In this case, demand for goods bids up prices causing increased inflation, rising prices with the result that the purchasing power of the money falls.

Recession results from an antithetical scenario, in which there is not enough money around which causes prices to either rise less quickly, stabilize or fall. Less demand results in increased rates of unemployment, so characteristic of recessionary periods in the Business Cycle.

… Remember that we in the West view and judge the East and its behaviours, through our western eyes (and v.v). There is definitely an element of cultural imperialism evident in the development of our own psychological environments, the latter conditioned a great deal by the nature of the physical environments we find ourselves in … There are plenty of people who are poor, uneducated, who turn to drugs, gangs, whatever they feel they have to do to survive. Plus with one of the poorest educational systems in the world, these Americans have no way out of the desperate straits they find themselves in … If desperation ever reaches fast full heights, you better learn to defend yourselves and your property because there will be no one around to do this for you … Americans live very devoted and patriotic lives, manipulated into believing that a Gold Star somehow compensates for the loss of a child. It’s not supposed to happen that way. It’s not natural. It should never be seen as normal.

I count some of the Americans I have met, personally, on my travels, or through FB, as some of the finest people with whom I have ever come into contact – kind, generous, and helpful to a lost soul on his trike passing through … When a guy loses a limb in a desert thousands of miles away from home it is tragic. Making the ultimate sacrifice is even more tragic and Gold Star Families are highly respected, as well they should be. Kids killed in the prime of their lives, creating endless sorrow for parents who have lost a child or children, and not to mention the effects of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) which puts some returning veterans into their own private hells, regardless of the fact that your president would call that being weak … Boy, I was actually questioned in NYC as to why I didn’t stand up, remove my cap, and pay homage to that great country of YOURS, prior to a Mets game. My answer could have been that I am handicapped and can’t stand well, or that I don’t stand for any anthem but I chose the truth – I am Canadian.

We’re in serious trouble, people. So get ready … There has been a shooting at a Mosque in Quebec City, leaving some dead. Apparently three gunmen entered the mosque in our provincial capital during a regular evening service, and opened fire. Six have been killed and another eight wounded, of which six are fighting for their lives as of this writing … Thinking about what’s going on in the Excited States and remembering that values charter which basically cost PQ Pauline Marois her government because we, the Québécois, threw her out on her fucking fat, separatist, racist ass. We are too smart for that … A woman wearing a head scarf was spat on in a Montreal West Island Mall. Another was told, on a bus, to take off her head scarf or “the government will do it for you” …

Saturday and/or Sunday seem(s) to be an appropriate time for reflection, contemplation, and at least to make a serious and thoughtful effort to come to terms with our individual place in society.

Take some time today or tomorrow to think about the effects of the so-called “shitstem”, read “money and material things”, on our conduct, comportment and our sense of dignity or lack of same. Make time, if at all possible, to just sit back, relax and let your mind go while enjoying the remarkable master, Peter Tosh, an incredible singer. Amplifying the volume certainly helps.

In the “Advice from the Doctor” column comes this, my Rx for whatever is ailing you: Get stoned and let the music take you away. (The Doctor)

The Day the Dollar Die

I see Johnny with his head hanging down
Wondering how many schillings left in that pound
Cost of living it is rising so high
Dollar see that have heart attack and die